Have you ever paused to consider how the red-dyed items around you may have received their color?

The Friends of the Edwin and Francis Hunter Arboretum’s committee member and expert, Professor Emeritus Wayne Armstrong, authored a fascinating article on the cochineal insect, Dactylopinus coccus, responsible for the Red Dye 4 used in many applications. The article was published in Ornament magazine: The Art & Craft of Personal Adornment (volume 45, no. 4; pg 30-35). For more information, the pdf of the article is obtainable by clicking the picture below, or a flip-book version of the entire magazine is available in the link above.